Stage 2 - July 5: Charleroi-Namur, 197 km

Norway does it Thor's way

Stage for McEwen, yellow for Hushovd

Thor Hushovd entered his name in the Tour de France history books today by
becoming the first Norwegian to wear the yellow jersey. Hushovd, sitting just
four seconds behind race leader Fabian Cancellara after the first stage, was
in perfect position to fight for the jersey by picking up time bonuses in the
intermediate sprints, the final sprint, or both. In the end Hushovd and Crédit
Agricole directeur sportif Roger Legeay opted to focus entirely on the finish,
where a place in the top three ahead would put the viking in yellow. The viking
didn't disappoint, crossing the line in second behind a flying Robbie McEwen
in another intense bunch sprint to the line.

"It's good for Norway, it's good for cycling, but most of all it's good for
me!" Hushovd said after donning the jersey. "I've been third, I've been second,
so it's true I'm just missing the win. But for now I'm very happy with the yellow
jersey and the green jersey, so we'll see... Maybe with the maillot jaune I
can win tomorrow."

Hushovd's accomplishment is the crowning achievement of his relatively young
career, during which he has grown into the role of a true team leader at Crédit
Agricole under the guidance of experienced director Legeay. Just one week after
earning the Norwegian road and time trial titles, Hushovd now adds two more
jerseys to his collection, the yellow and green of the Tour de France.

McEwen was equally satisfied his stage victory, an important win over a deep
sprinters' field which thus far has gotten the better of Alessandro Petacchi,
virtually unbeatable in the Giro d'Italia.

"Yesterday I needed a one or two metres [to beat Kirsipuu], so today I started
the sprint early in the turn, around 250 metres to go," McEwen told French television.
"I couldn't see the finish but I knew it was necessary to start in the turn.
I feel very strong in the sprints. I trained specifically for the sprints before
the Tour, and it worked!"

Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r) showed his own good form in the sprint, taking third,
while the top ten was rounded out by the top sprinters one would expect to fight
out the stage win. Petacchi's Fassa Bortolo team didn't repeat the 'mistake'
of yesterday, riding on the front the entire day to protect Cancellara's yellow
jersey, but the Silver Train still found that controlling the end of a Tour
de France stage is a far more difficult task than in the Giro d'Italia. Petacchi
finished in a modest eighth place, behind Erik Zabel and ahead of a rallying
Mario Cipollini in tenth.

How it unfolded

The Tour's second stage started in the grand square next to Charleroi's Parc
des Expositions under cloudy but sunny skies, with a moderate wind blowing from
the southwest. The only non-starter was Australian Nick Gates (Lotto-Domo),
who crashed and came in over 30 minutes down yesterday and was declared hors
delai by the race jury. Another Australian, Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com),
wasn't feeling so crash hot either after suffering from back problems during
yesterday's stage. He did start and was just going to see how his back felt.

With the Cat. 4 climb of the Côte du M de Bomeree coming just 7 km from the
start, the stage began with the usual series of attacks. Mountains leader Paolo
Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) took the points on the climb to secure his lead
in the polka dot competition, but the peloton only remained compact for another
3 km before the main breakaway of the day was established.

Six riders managed to escape after 10 km, with Jakob Piil (CSC), Sebastian
Lang (Gerolsteiner), Christophe Edaleine (Cofidis), Jérôme Pineau (La Boulangère),
Mark Scanlon (AG2R) and Christophe Mengin (Fdjeux.com) powering away from the
bunch and immediately clicking into a rhythm. Covering over 44 km in the first
hour, the break gained a maximum lead of 5'00 at the 48 km mark, before Credit
Agricole and Quick.Step-Davitamon assumed the position in front of the peloton
and started riding. In the break, Sebastian Lang was the best placed rider on
GC, lying 37th at 31 seconds, while Jakob Piil was in there to continue the
CSC offensive after being involved in the late two-man break yesterday with
Marc Wauters.

After 65 km, the Tour passed into French territory for the first time this
year, and the six man break was in full flight as it headed in a southerly direction
to Avesnes-sur-Helpe (km 98), before turning eastward back to Namur and re-entering
Belgium at the 120 km mark. The last 100 km of the stage was tailwind assisted,
and this played into the hands of the riders out front. The third hour was covered
at an average speed of 44.9 km/h (44.3 km/h total for the first three hours),
but the Quick.Step/Credit Agricole chase had pulled the break to 2'15 with 60
km to go.

Despite not having a man in the break, Fassa Bortolo was noticeably absent
from the head of the pack, preferring to sit back and protect Fabian Cancellara's
maillot jaune. There were enough teams interested in a bunch sprint that Fassa
could save its strength for the final.

On the day's second climb, the Cat. 4 Côte de Silenrieux (km 141), Jérôme Pineau
(La Boulangère) took the points uncontested in front of Piil and Mengin. The
peloton motored up the 1.1 km climb 2'00 behind them, with things well under
control. At km 156, Gian Matteo Fagnini (Domina Vacanze) crashed on the left
hand side of the road and was forced to abandon, taken to hospital with a broken
collarbone, leaving Mario Cipollini without his leadout man.

By the third sprint at Florennes (km 159), where Jérôme Pineau took the points
and 6 second time bonus, the peloton was just 1'20 behind and closing fast.
Lotto-Domo had come to the front to help Quick.Step chase, and Euskaltel and
Phonak were also up there, protecting their GC riders from potential crashes.
The break succumbed to the inevitable and was caught with 23 km to go after
spending 164 km out in front, and Fassa Bortolo immediately put two riders at
the head of the peloton to keep the tempo high.

"We never expected to go all the way since our advantage was never that big,"
Edaleine explained after his long effort. "As soon as it started going up, Crédit
Agricole starting riding behind for Hushovd, which is normal. But I got a few
bonus points along the way and it was a good day."

Shortly after the recapture, a crash claimed Frenchman Frederic Bessy, but
the Cofidis rider was quickly able to remount and was not seriously hurt. As
the peloton sped into Namur with 20 km to go, Alessio's Fabio Baldato attacked
and gained a small 10 second gap, but was reeled in at 15 km to go. Meanwhile,
green jersey wearer Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) punctured and had to be brought
back to the peloton by his team, losing valuable position and energy in the
process. He was able to claw his way back to the front in order to contest the
finish.

The various sprinters teams began to compete for the front positions and the
speed increased. Fassa had the numbers up there and began to form its train,
while Quick.Step (with Paolo Bettini prominent in the polka dots) also kept
its men in front. At 12 km to go there was a mini disaster for Roberto Heras
(Liberty Seguros) who had a mechanical and had to chase very hard with his teammates
to regain the peloton. He did so, and did not lose any time at the finish.

No-one was getting away in the final downhill run into Namur, where the peloton
as averaging 60 km/h driven by Fassa and Quick.Step, with other teams fighting
for control. But after not having ridden on the front for much of the day, Fassa
Bortolo had the necessary power to stave the others off. With 4 km to go, Petacchi
was in fifth wheel behind his train as Luxembourg champ Kim Kirchen did his
turn followed by maillot jaune Fabian Cancellara, who stretched out the peloton
between kilometres 3 and 2. Then Tosatto and Velo took over but Petacchi was
starting to get swarmed on the inside and lost his position as McEwen, Hushovd,
Nazon and Hondo all moved up.

Thor Hushovd came off Velo's wheel with 300m left and hugged the inside bend,
but behind him Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) went down hard after a wide passing move
from stage 1 winner Jaan Kirsipuu clipped his front wheel, taking Jimmy Casper
(Cofidis) to the ground with him but fortunately no one else.

Robbie McEwen managed to find a way out of the bunch from several wheels back,
putting in a huge jump with 250m out to pass Hushovd and claim a very clear
stage win. Hushovd's second place was enough to give him yellow, and the big
Norwegian will wear it in tomorrow's third stage from Waterloo to Wasquehal.
McEwen will wear green, although he trails Hushovd in the points classification,
while Bettini will keep the polka dot jersey and Cancellara the white.

Stage 3 - Tuesday July 6: Waterloo - Wasquehal, 210 km

Perhaps the first major test of the Tour comes Tuesday with a 210 charge through
Belgium and back to France over roads more frequently used in the tough spring
classics. All hands on deck as the Tour de France tackles the bergs of Flanders
and the pavé of northern France, including the Muur van Geraardsbergen
from the Tour of Flanders and two sections of cobbles à la Paris-Roubaix.
The final section of pavé in Gruson comes just 25km before the finish
in Wasquehal, promising a nervous and potentially dangerous finale.